OUR VIEW: Airport will keep looking up

Friday

Aug 11, 2017 at 2:00 AM

Securing a Jet Blue flight to New York last year was a “what the heck is going on in Daytona Beach” moment that rippled across the industry.

Throughout the airline industry, there’s a gloomy sense of inevitability. Regional airports face an inevitable struggle, experts say. Flights will continue to go away. Airlines only want to consolidate service at big-city hubs.

Be grateful for what you have — there’s zero chance of getting more.

Volusia County officials have heard it all. They have nodded politely. And then they go out, and get more.

Securing a JetBlue flight to New York last year was a “what the heck is going on in Daytona Beach” moment that rippled across the industry. Other successes are more incremental. Delta, Daytona Beach International’s biggest carrier, plans to add another flight to Atlanta in the fall, says airport manager Rick Karl. And then there’s the quietly sustained — but crucial — reality that the planes landing and taking off from DBIA are pretty darn close to full. On average, 2016’s flights were 87 percent full, and month-to-month figures trend toward steady increases in “load factor.” That’s the number that’s really going to impress carriers, and convince them to land more and bigger commercial flights here.

(READ: Soaring totals unlikely to score Daytona new destinations)

But there are other factors at work. Start with the fact that local leaders — at the county and in the private business sector — have remainedfocused on the goal of making the airport better, rather than indulging in political infighting and grandstanding. County Manager Jim Dinneen and the County Council have pushed for improvements that kept the airport up to date and user friendly. For example, during the economic downturn of the mid-2000s, when other airports were cutting back, Volusia County was quietly assembling grant funding to upgrade baggage-handling and runways. The county is in the planning phase of a terminal facelift right now that will probably include amenities like increased charging stations, new carpet and lighting.

These factors won’t make an immediate impression on airlines — they’ll always look first (and probably last) at the number of bodies they can pack onto planes. But they are likely to increase the “wow” factor among passengers who try Daytona Beach International for the first time and realize that it’s easier, more pleasant — and often cost-effective when compared to airports in Jacksonville and Orlando.

Add to that the local companies committed to book air travel through DBIA, including those that signed on to a travel bank that guaranteed JetBlue $300,000 in ticket sales as part of the incentive package to bring the airline in. That’s what produces those higher-than-average passenger counts, and gives DBIA its best shot at landing more service.

Local officials have their eyes on other big prizes, including additional service to cities like Boston, Washington D.C. or Chicago. These destinations would vastly improve service for local passengers, and are within reach — with the same low-key persistence, attention to detail and across-the-board commitment that has helped Daytona Beach’s airport succeed at a time when so many others are foundering.

Karl says the county isn’t interested “chasing shiny objects,” feverishly waving big incentives at airlines who might come in for six months or a year. Rather, he says, the county is looking for sustained, long-term growth — with continued appreciation for American and particularly Delta, which stuck with Daytona Beach through the lean times. And no matter how much the experts look grave and voice their pessimism about the airport’s prospects, one factor remains constant in Volusia County:

“The airlines are giving us the opportunity to fill up these airplanes,” he says. “And we’re filling them up.”